At the moment Shane Lowry’s relationship with the game of golf is one the weekend hacker knows all too well. Unrequited love.
Lowry’s love of the game has been tested severely this year. By no means is he in a slump but since holing that famous putt at Bethpage Black the golfing Gods have enjoyed tripping him up. Chances to win in Dubai and Florida left painful scars while his habit of throwing in an inexplicable blunder on the course has left him without a top-10 since the Cognizant collapse.
But the Offaly man feels he is close to rediscovering his mojo and what better place to do it than at the Open Championship – a title he won seven years ago. It’s Lowry’s ability to respond when things are going against him that will be key. He has the game for this firm and fiery test, it’s between the two ears that will determine a lot.
“I don’t think much of my game needs to improve, except for maybe being a better version of myself. I’ll try and stay positive for the week and see what happens,” says the Clara man who is without a win since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship.
The game has beaten Lowry up this year. Perhaps he is trying too hard to get the best out of himself.
“It’s still there,” says Lowry of his love for the game. “The love and the desire for the whole thing is still there, and the want. I would probably argue that the want is maybe there a little bit too much.
“It’s easy to start trying too hard. But I’ve done a lot of work on everything over the last few weeks and it’ll be interesting to see how this week goes.
“It’s always nice to be here. It does feel like the biggest tournament in the world every time we come here.”
As for the Royal Birkdale test it will play much firmer and faster compared to what he faced in 2017 when he missed the cut by five shots.
“It’s going to take a lot of good golf. The rough is very burnt out, and while you can get chances from the rough, you won’t have much control over your ball.
“So as the week goes on, everything is going to get firmer; it’s going to be harder and harder to hit greens out of the rough.
“So you’re going to have to be on the fairway a lot. It’s going to be a great test because the wind’s going to be a nice strength, not too strong, not too light, and it’s going to make for a good tournament.”
The big news surrounding Lowry over the last fortnight has been his decision to part ways with caddie Darren Reynolds after three years together and bring back an old flame in Dermot Byrne who was on the bag during the infancy of Lowry’s professional career until 2018.
As is often the case in professional golf, caddies can be collateral damage whenever a pro decides to make a change. In Lowry’s case a change may be as good as a rest, a different voice, a new way of thinking.
“I felt like I needed to change something, and unfortunately for Darren, it’s the first thing that you look at because I can’t change much else about myself on the course,” Lowry explains.
“Dermot was available to do the following week, and we got on great. It was great to have him back at the Travelers. I had a great week with him. Really enjoyed it. So we’re doing these couple of weeks, and we’re going to see after that.
“But look, there’s no doubt about it, results are not what I would like them to be. But I’m putting a lot of time and effort into it. I’m not getting much out of it, and I still have to just be patient and wait for some good stuff to come around.
“So I think the plan is to keep going, keep at it and try and play your way out of it. And wouldn’t this be a great week to play your way out of it?”
Leave a comment